Dasha winced. Laoren certainly didn’t seem fine, but she looked a bit better than she could have been from that kind of fling and fall. Nodding her head as the request was made, however, she fluttered around atop several branches before slowly bending to pull Laoren from the branches. It was awkward. The way the wing was compressed between the branches left Dasha with few ways to get it out and hold onto Laoren. Thus, Dasha decided to focus on the latter, carefully pulling Laoren out and then fluttering downwards to the forest below.

Easing them both down to the ground, Dasha sighed as her feet finally touched. “Oof…” Looking Laoren over again, Dasha patted her down gently pushing pine needles and whatever else from her form. “That… that could have gone a lot worse…. Seemed like… your wing helped…” she mumbled a bit to the both of them.

“I think the arch may have slowed your fall…” Dasha mumbled quietly more to herself than to Laoren specifically. Blue eyes winced again on seeing the cut Laoren was pulling on and then the number of other smaller ones that were appearing. Shifting to her side, she was about to grab something when Laoren spoke.

Again? She really… was willing to give it another go? A small, sheepish smile pulled on the corners of Dasha’s features in response. “If… if you want… but let me heal you up a little first?” she ask-stated.

Before Laoren could say much of anything, Dasha reached into a side pocket and pulled out what she had been aiming to before: a small fae crystal. A small spell was whispered into the air, and the crystal began to glow a light white color.

Holding it forward, Dasha closed her eyes and muttered a bit louder. One word became clear, though. “Heal.” Laoren would feel a rush of warmth in her body before the small cuts and scrapes began to seal over. After thirty seconds or so, the light dimmed, and Dasha dropped the crystal back into her pocket. “There…” Dasha smiled a little. “A bit better?”

Dasha couldn’t help but smile at Laoren’s praise. Yes, she had quite a bundle of knightly traits if she did say so herself. The mention of hiring her, however, had Dasha blinking a couple of times. “Hire?” she repeated. The thought was brushed away, however, as Laoren went on. “Ah.” Maybe she’d ask about it again if the conversation leaned itself to such things.

The mention of Caeluma had Dasha raising a brow up until it became clearer why she was asking about it. “Oooh,” Dasha’s blue eyes sparkled brightly. “I actually know quite a few!” she answered. “I can get you in contact with two or three—“ She paused shifting to her small pockets and fishing out her phone. She’d wait for Laoren to react a bit before listing off a few numbers. “Minerva is one of my favorites, she even worked with silk which isn’t something you see in this day and age…” she rambled a bit pleasantly. “Shirley and Serena are also good, but Minnie just knows how to put things back together and really bring some art into the situation. You’d think she was a professional or something by her skills…” Dasha paused and giggled briefly.

“Oh yes, she’s a sword and armor smith when she’s not working on clothing and other fabric,” Dasha laughed easily at that. “I met her when I was getting fashioned with military armor.” Which probably made a lot more sense than not.

This thought was put away, however, as Laoren showed what she had on her— very little, in fact. Dasha blinked a couple of times in rapid succession. “Oh….” Yes, that was weird, really weird, by Dasha’s standards. “Are you… a naturalist or?” Images of her father wandering out into the woods to fight bears and whatever else came to Dasha’s mind immediately after, and she couldn’t help but smile. She did love camping out with him in the cold mountains of Tescaula. She needed to remember to take some time to do that.

The rumble of Laoren’s stomach had Dasha blushing rather suddenly. “Sounds good….” she answered at the proposition. Very carefully, she maneuvered around Laoren again and started to lift her up again. Holding tighter this time, she managed to keep her grip well established. The flight brought them once again above the trees, but this time rather than focus on the view, Dasha focused on the lake. Fluidly flying in that direction, she started to show her sheer strength in maneuverability.

That wasn’t to say it was easy. It took quite a bit of strength even then, but Dasha wasn’t about to drop Laoren again. Nope. Not until they made it to the edge of the Unicorn Lake, at least.

The flight wouldn’t be that long at the end of the day. Coming down fluidly, Dasha wouldn’t immediately release her grip on Laoren until both of their feet were on the ground. “There…” She breathed out before slowly chuckling. “A better flight, yeah?” Yeah.

Color came to Dasha’s features, but the warmth of her smile made it obvious that it was well received. The strength of the kingdom— had she even been vaguely referred to as anything close to that? Dasha couldn’t remember a time. The strength of the kingdom. She certainly would remember such words. She’d probably have to write them down later, even. Stretching her arms and wings a bit before lowering them again, Dasha smiled a little more.

The offer brought her down to earth a bit. As if on some unknown cue, her stomach too started to rumble a bit. Dasha bit her lip briefly. “If I’m not imposing… sure,” she answered walking over and slowly bending to sit down. The grass was soft, and Dasha almost considered laying down on it. Instead, she rolled her shoulder and sat a bit more comfortably. Propping herself up, she very briefly glanced out over the lake. “Did you know there’s supposedly a unicorn that sleeps at the bottom of the lake?” she brought up again.

A survival skill… Dasha supposed networking was a skill one could use at the end of the day. Imagining her father doing so to get by was hard, but she supposed not everyone out there surviving was her father, in fact. A small giggle came and went from Dasha at that. “Well, thank you…” she answered taking one set of chopsticks. Twirling them around in her fingers for a few moments, she stared down at them carefully. This… this couldn’t be too hard, could it? Two tiny swords… it’s just two tiny swords.

And yet she still failed to grasp anything on her first few tries. Ok, maybe she’d try with her other ha- No. That was a mistake. Back to the other hand. Thankfully the conversation had taken a turn, though, one that Dasha could continue on as she finagled these strange utensils. “They are very hardy… and very powerful magic wise. Sometimes it’s easy to forget since what comes to mind is something… so pure and harmless.” There, she got one with Laoren’s shift in holding. “I’m… not actually sure.” Dasha looked back briefly towards the lake again. “Do they even eat meat?” She knew they had standards like hay and grass, but what was to say that they couldn’t enjoy other things— aside from maybe some strange worshiping rules and regulations, hah.

A curious look came to Dasha’s features as Laoren described her wanderings amongst monsters. Human meat… Laoren was human, then? Dasha’s eyes briefly flickered to her wing again. Guess she’d used one of those treats at some point in time… Dasha had always had a vague fascination with things such as the Colorful Custard, Mutation Muffin, and Shifter’s Shortcake, but the thought of actually indulging in one was… something she was still a little leery of. Magic in general could sometimes have a mind of its own, and who knew what she would end up as even if she was careful.

The question, however, pulled Dasha from her thoughts. “Home defense and security,” she answered. It sounded strange to say that, but Dasha wasn’t exactly sure why just yet. “A lot of work is just assuring that our own people keep out of trouble…” A small, dry laugh came and went form Dasha at that. She had been on several missions that were specifically meant to keep nobles and diplomats out of trouble with other groups and species. “The last war was…” Dasha blinked slowly trying to trace back what she had learned in school. “Not even really a war so much as a battle…” A conflict at best, yes. “And that was decades ago.” Now that she thought of it, it was kind of strange how peaceful everything was on that front. Not that Dasha herself complained.